We decided to be 'proper' tourists today and took the City Sightseeing Bus Tour. It's a hop on, hop off bus service that has two loops round the city taking in the most popular spots.

We walked down to Multicentro Mall for the pick up with the intention of getting to the Miraflores Locks on the Panama Canal for 10am. We were in good time for the 9am departure but the bus wasn't, it didn't leave for another 10 minutes. The bus finally set off and followed Avenue Balboa round the bay to the edge of the 'Old Town' before heading inland and round Cerro Ancón. On the other side of the hill is Albrook Mall, the largest mall in Central America, where one passenger was dropped off. We then drove through Ciudad del Saber (Knowledge City) which used to be the American controlled area bordering the canal when the US administered the canal zone. It is now an educational and research centre with some of the best technology in Panama and tax breaks for those setting up there.

The next stop was Miraflores Locks on the Panama canal and as the bus pulled up we could see a ship in the lock and a load of people on the viewing platform. We rushed up the stairs to buy our entrance ticket and then hopped in the lift to take us to the fourth floor viewing platform. We managed to edge our way through the crowd to get a good vantage point. A huge, but empty, Hong Kong registered boat and a couple of tourist boats were just starting to go through into the lock. The big boat was towed in by four 'tractors' on the dockside and the 'little' tourist boats motored in behind it. The lock gates were shut and then gravity took over and the water from the higher Lake Gatun was allowed to flow into the lock. It didn't take much more than ten minutes for the lock to fill and the boats lift up by 16.5 metres, and the upper gates were then opened.

The large ship was then towed out the lock and control given back to the captain of the ship to continue his journey upstream to the Pedro Miguel Locks further up the canal.

There was just enough time for us to walk through the exhibition and see the video before the next Sightseeing Bus came past. The exhibition was quite interesting, explaining how the canal came about, how it works, and how the new bigger and better canal will be built.

The bus took us down through the Amador causeway with great views back into the city and across to the Bridge of Americas spanning the Panama Canal. We also went passed the Biomuseum, a very colourful building designed by Frank Gerhy. He also designed the Guggenheim Museum and the Disney Concert Hall.

Next on the tour, was to drive past Casco Viejo, the 'old town' and the fish market. We'll come back another day to explore them. Back at the Multicentro, we swapped buses to other loop to see the south eastern part of the city.

We got of the bus to explore Panama Viejo which has the archaeological remains of the City of Panama built in 1589. This city was destroyed by pirates in 1671 and then rebuilt two years later in the present Old Town, Casco Viejo. It's now been declared a World Heritage Site but there is not much left to see apart from the foundations of a few buildings and the odd wall although the Cathedral's lookout tower is still intact.

Back at the hotel, Maria had a swim in the pool whilst David worked on the blog poolside. Getting back into the room afterwards proved a bit of a challenge though. The key didn't work in the door and after asking to get it changed twice, the manager came to check himself with his master key. The battery in the lock had apparently ran out which meant a bit of maintenance on their part before we could get in our room. Maria felt a bit awkward in the lobby with just a bikini and sarong on, so she hid behind one of the computer terminals. We did manage to print out our tickets for Wednesday's flight to Colombia so not all bad.

We had dinner in the Japanese restaurant, Tsugoi, which is next door to the hotel. The tempura was a bit stodgy but the sushi was great. Still not as good as Kyo-Ya in Auckland but OK in it's absence.